After two years of consecutive decreases Dauphin ratepayers will see a modest increase in the mill rate charged against their properties this year as city council approved its 2022 budget Monday evening.

As it did last year, council used the funds remaining from a federal restart grant received in 2020 to lower the amount raised by taxation by $200,000. That amount still represents a 1.6 per cent increase over last year’s numbers.

In the end the increase in the mill rate from 18.039 in 2021 to 18.332 in 2022 will raise $6,382,457. That increase means a residential property will pay $9.58 more per $100,000 of assessed value while commercial properties will pay $6.99 more per $100,000 of assessed value.

When income from other sources such transfers from reserves. taxes added, business licenses, the provincial municipal operating grant, provincial public safety grant and other federal and provincial grants are factored in, the City will have just under $12.5 million to support its operations this year.

In presenting the financial plan, city manager Sharla Griffths said the budget supports a continued level of spending on municipal infrastructure such as roads, sidewalks, and water distribution and no program cuts.

“This year’s budget was very tough to set, as council’s directive was to hold the line at the 2020 tax level and then reduce it by $200,000 and take that money from reserves that we got from the federal government. However, there are many expenditures in 2022 that were unforeseen and unavoidable. Some of them are higher than anticipated RCMP retro pay and wages. very high snowfall in 2022 already and we don’t know what is coming in the fall. There is a reduction in our taxes added in 2022 due to a slowdown in development. There is an increase in the requirement for airport funding this year and, as everybody is feeling, there is a significant increase in the cost of fuel and natural gas,” Griffiths said. “We are very fortunate that council’s directive could be met by drawing from our reserve funds. That being said, council is drawing wisely and responsibly from the reserves to ensure financial stability and security into the future.”

In the general fund most budget areas will see increases, Griffiths said.

General Government Services has been set at $1,426,030, an increase of 7.5 per cent, while Protective Services is set at $3,564,549, an increase of 14 per cent and Transportation Services is set at $1,865,058, an increase of 5.51 per cent. Environmental Health has a budget of $1,013,638, an increase of 0.25 per cent, Environmental Development Services is set at $293,981, an increase of 32.61 per cent, Recreation Cultural Services increases 1.1 per cent to $2,005,800 and Public Health and Welfare Services remains unchanged at $33,749.

Economic Development Services – was the one budget area to decrease, dropping 19.07 per cent to $413,192.

Planned General Fund capital expenditures and reserve transfers $4,478,506, an almost $1 million increase in capital projects and reserve transfers over 2021.

In the Utility Fund water revenue has been budgeted at $2,383,737 and wastewater revenue is estimated at $647,608.

Operating expenditures on the water side has been set at $2,025,101, an increase of 8.45 per cent. The increase is due mainly to due to wage increases, routine water system assessment report, work on the agreement with RMNP with regards to the Edwards Lake water source, and water main breaks.

Operating expenditures on the wastewater side have been set at $398,675, a decrease of 4.46 per cent due to less required maintenance this year.

Planned capital expenditures in the Utility Fund total just over $2.3 million.

More information on the budget can be found in next week’s Dauphin Herald.

It was the small team that could. 

The Predators 14U girls’ volleyball team, consisting of eight players and two coaches, have spent the last four months honing skills, learning rotations and promoting team cohesion to end their first club volleyball season with success. 

More in this week's Roblin Review!

The Sixties Scoop is another part of Canada’s disgraceful history when in comes to the treatment of Indigenous people.

The Sixties Scoop happened from around 1960 to the mid ‘80s, when Indigenous children were removed from their homes and families and adopted or fostered to predominantly non-Indigenous families across Canada and into the U.S.

During that time frame, the provincial governments felt this was the best way of addressing Indigenous child welfare issues.

Read the full story in this week's Roblin Review!

The Roblin and District Cemetery committee held its annual general meeting for 2021 March 14 in the meeting room of the Community Centre.

The AGMs for years 2019 and 2020 were also recapped at this meeting as both were respectfully cancelled at their due dates because of Covid-19 restrictions.

Find out more in this week's Roblin Review. 

It was supposed to be all about the budget. But Thursday’s public meeting to discuss the Municipality of Roblin’s 2022 Financial Plan gave both council and ratepayers in attendance the opportunity to ask ‘What’s going on with Prairie Mountain Health?’.

And what, if anything, we can do about it.

Get all the details in this week's Roblin Review. 

There’s a lot of buzz surrounding the loss of the number of bees across Manitoba.

Every year apiaries lose a certain number of bees over the winter months.

Many attributed it to poor weather conditions, pests and it just being part of the nature of things, but there’s also a more politicized angle to this.

“This happens every year with bee numbers,” said Wendell Estate Honey Owner Tim Wendell. “There are some people that lose a lot of hive numbers and there’s different reasons for those losses, as well as some politics behind what’s going on. One of the most notable arguments has been about bringing in packaged bees across the U.S. border and it’s been an issue for over 35 years. The Canadian U.S. Border was closed in 1987 to the importation of packaged bees for sanitary reasons.”

The pandemic has played a slight role in all of this, with beekeepers not being able to access packaged bees from other countries. The delay in flights, shipping and the fact that bees are a perishable item to transport, have impacted honey production overall. Bringing in packaged bees, also presents a variety of different challenges as well.

Read the full story in this week's Russell Banner!

“You know it’s time to travel when you start to look like the person on your driver’s license…” This is the quote that Minitonas residents Bill and Tanya Oakes use as their mantra when it comes to their travels. They started a travel blog called 6 Tires and a Dog that documents their journey from Minitonas to Aransas, Texas.
“We wanted a place for family and friends to follow along on our adventure and thought the perfect place to do this would be on our Facebook page, but we quickly realized that a lot of our family didn't have access to Facebook, so I did some research and came up with the idea of a blog,” said Tanya Oakes. “Having some sort of platform would keep everyone in the loop on where we were and what we were doing, without having to make multiple phone calls repeating the same stories. I later found out that the two could be tied together with the click of a button so we had a Facebook page and then a web page and people could choose which one they preferred to follow along with.
“We started getting messages from people we didn't know asking if we minded if they followed us so we put a subscribe option in and next thing we knew we had hundreds of people following along. I also got a message from a lady in Nova Scotia who was writing to let me know that she had just lost her husband and they loved to travel together.
The blog reminded her of their adventures and she felt it was helping her deal with the loss of him. It was so nice to hear comments and shares like that.”
The Oakes' made several stops along the way to Aransas. Each stop had an adventure all its own and allowed them to take in the sights and some good food along the way.
“We left Minitonas and headed as far as Minot, N.D., for the first night,” said Oakes. “The next day we headed south to Sioux Falls, S.D., where we spent the night with plans to take in Mount Rushmore the next morning. After we completed touring Mount Rushmore, we headed out to Kansas City, Miss., where we stayed at our first RV resort.
The next day we left Kansas City and headed to Mount Vernon, Ill., where we spent the night at another RV Park. The next morning, we headed to our first planned long stay in Nashville, Tenn. where we spent eight days. From Nashville we travelled to New Orleans, La., where we stayed for four days. From New Orleans we went to Galveston Island, Texas, where we spent 10 days before heading west down the Texas coast to Mustang Island, Texas in the Corpus Christi area. We spent a week there and decided that we really liked Galveston Island, so we headed back and spent the next two months there.”
Their plans were a little altered and the Oakes' found themselves rushing against the clock to get back, only to be met with an unexpected surprise.
“Our original plan was to head up the west coast to Abbotsford, B.C., where Billy does his spring training, but when he received his schedule, we found that we wouldn't have the time we needed to get back in time so we made a quick and direct drive back to Canada,” said Oakes. “After 51 hours, nine states, two nights in truck stops and a whopping six hours total sleep, we made it back to the border only to be told that it had been closed by protestors early that morning.”
Despite the change in plans and rush to get back to Canada, the Oakes' still enjoyed their trip and made many memories along the way. Oakes fell in love with the history and culture in New Orleans, for it wasn’t like anything she had experienced before.
“There were so many memorable things, but some of them include camping right next to the ocean,” said Oakes.
“Then seeing things that you’ve only previously read about or seen in pictures like the 38.5 km long bridge when driving into New Orleans or Mount Rushmore, seeing ZZ top in Nashville, everything about New Orleans in general. The ability to be in shorts and a tank top, sitting outside enjoying a cold beer in +26 weather in December; that is a hard one to top.
“I love listening to stories, especially in regards to a place’s history, therefore my favourite place on the trip was New Orleans. I’ve never seen one place have such a vast variety of history attached to it. Not just history, but the types of things that it actually has going on today is so interesting. An example of this would be the two types of vampires that are known and practicing in New Orleans as we speak. The guided ghost tour of the French quarter at night in New Orleans was my favourite thing on the trip.
“My next favourite place was the ocean and being able to walk across the road outside our RV resort and it was right there,” said Oakes. “Being so close that even at night with the windows closed, you could still hear the sound of the waves hitting the shore. It was so soothing. The RV resort we were at on Galveston Island had a diversion of the ocean right behind our RV, full of fish and crab, so we bought some crab traps and were able to eat as much crab as we liked.”
With the ups of travelling also come the challenges too. Looking back, the Oakes' were met with some challenges during their travels that may seem comical now, but at the time were less than amusing.
“Some of the challenges included driving through major cities in an RV and having it breakdown. Finding out that the range on the electric bikes wasn't as long as told by the manufacturer, that was a hard lesson to learn when you’re 13 kilometres from the RV resort and the battery dies. It made for a long and difficult bike ride without the pedal assist. Then it was trying to find RV resorts that weren't for 55+ or full of people, such as us escaping for the winter. Then there was infamous steel height restriction bar at the entrance to an open-air parking lot at Wal-Mart. The one we never expected, but realised was there when it began to drag on the roof tearing off vent covers, satellite cover, denting the ladder and etc. All we could do was slowly keep going forward cringing at the sounds of the bar dragging and destroying the roof and the things on it.”
“It was so interesting to see the weather, scenery and even people's accents changing every day the further south we went. There’s always something to look at and so much to explore. One of the biggest lessons we learnt this winter was that having a vehicle to travel around to explore is the most important asset to have. We lost out on a lot of sightseeing opportunities because we didn't have access to get to them. There are very few things that can be accessed when you are driving a 40 foot RV and don't have a lot of experience doing it and electric bikes can only get you so far.”
The Oakes' sampled some of the best dining they’ve ever eaten in New Orleans. The food had an abundance of flavour unlike anything in Manitoba.
“Hands down, the best food was New Orleans,” said Oakes. “We tried Muffuletta's, Crawfish Etouffee, Cajun Chicken and Andouille Jambalaya, Gumbo, crab, oysters, and Chicken Andouille Gumbo. They were all amazing. We both agreed that we have never tasted such flavourful food in our lives, to date.”
Along with amazing food, the scenery they took was breathtaking as well. They witnessed a variety of different things from the mountains, ocean, bright lights of the Grand Ole Opry and more.
“For amazing views, Mount Rushmore was definitely a favourite of ours,” said Oakes. “It’s one of those places that takes on a whole new meaning when you are standing right there in its presence. The Grand Ole Opry in Nashville; The French Quarter in New Orleans; the ocean at Galveston Island with the beach houses standing on their stilts to allow water to flow under and through without damaging them; crossing to Galveston Island on the Ferry and having Dolphins swimming alongside the ferry are just a few others.”
The Oakes' started their trek on Nov. 14, and arrived home on Feb. 11. This allowed them to spend Christmas away from home. They are already thinking of how they will make next year’s trip different and better.
“It was difficult to be away for the holidays, because I love Christmas and usually have my house fully decorated,” said Oakes. “It was the first time that we had Christmas without our kids and family. It was the quietist and loneliest Christmas ever and we both agreed that we wouldn't do it again. We will be travelling back for Christmas or making arrangements to have family join us for Christmas going forward.
“The way things stand right now, we are thinking we will try Arizona out next winter and make sure that this time we get the west coast tour in. We learnt so much from our travels this past winter, good and bad, that the next one will hopefully go a lot smoother and we will definitely be more prepared.”
To check out the Oakes’ blog, go to www.6tiresandadog.com or follow their page on Facebook.

The Dauphin Kings have advanced to the Manitoba Junior Hockey League final after eliminating the Winkler Flyers in five games.

After winning the first two games of the series at home, Apr. 16 and 17, the series shifted to Winkler for games three and four, last Wednesday and Thursday.

Winkler got back into the series with a 5-4 win in game three, but the Kings rebounded to win game four, 5-2.

With a chance to wrap up the series on home ice in game five, Saturday, the Kings scored a 5-1 win, securing a berth in the league final for the first time since 2014.

Kings head coach and general manager Doug Hedley knew the Flyers would come out strong in game three in front of their home fans.

“They came at us. We knew they would in Winkler. They had a full house. They jumped on mistakes,” he said. “They created some odd-man rushes that we don’t normally give up.”

The Kings trailed 3-1 at one point in the first period, but tied the game going into the third, where Winkler tallied a pair early in the frame to regain the lead. Dauphin would add one with more than five minutes left, but could not bury the equalizer.

Hedley was pleased with his team’s response in game four.

“I thought we played very similar to the way we played in Dauphin. Really tough on pucks. We had them in their end. Our forecheck was phenomenal,” he said. “The 50-50 stick battles were outstanding. We got big goals from big guys. A key goal when we were shorthanded from Jayden Jubenvill, who scored a big goal to make it 4-2. Then we scored an empty-netter.”

The Kings won the series four-games-to-one, but Hedley feels the series was a lot closer, noting Dauphin needed an empty-net goal in three of their four wins.

“That’s how tight (the games) were,” he said, adding Winkler losing one of their top players in Jayden McCarthy in game two did not help them. The strength of the Flyers, Hedley said, is their depth. They can roll four lines, he said, and have speed on all four lines, as well. “Our back end is our engine and they definitely delivered,” he added.

The biggest factor in the series win was the team’s compete level. Winkler, Hedley said, is a heavy team and some people thought they would run over the Kings.

“I was really impressed with the way our guys competed. We were maybe lighter than them in certain areas, but we were hard in stick battles, hard on pucks and just didn’t back down,” he said. “The games that we won, two here and one in Winkler, we never quit working and I’m very impressed and proud of the guys for the way they worked.”

The Kings will now await the winner of the series between the Steinbach Pistons and Virden Oil Capitals. Steinbach leads the series three-games-to-two with game six, Monday in Virden. Hedley has no preference as to which team the Kings face.

“It doesn’t really matter who we play. Nobody gets to the league final by not playing well. So I know Virden is pushing Steinbach right now. If it goes seven, that’s great. I’d love to see it go seven. The longer it goes, the better for us, regardless of who we play,” he said.

The Kings took a couple of days off after Saturday’s game five victory and will get back on the ice early this week to prepare for the final.

Kings court:

The schedule for the Centennial Cup in Estevan, Sask., has been released. The MJHL champions will open the tournament, May 20, against the Central Canada Hockey League champion at 11 a.m. The second game goes, May 22, against the Maritime Hockey League, followed by a contest, May 24 against the Saskatchewan Junior Hockey League’s Flin Flon Bombers, who gained an automatic entry to the national tournament when they earned a berth to the SJHL final after the Centennial Cup host Estevan Bruins had already advanced to the final. The MJHL’s final round-robin game will go, May 25, against the champions of the Northern Ontario Junior Hockey League. The final three round-robin games all begin at 3 p.m.

As if the 18 inches or more of snow which fell in the Dauphin Valley during the latest incident involving a Colorado Low, was not enough, Mother Nature decided to add in a little mayhem and destruction this past weekend.

This car on Seventh Street Southeast was clobbered by just one of the hundreds of trees around the community which dropped large branches or fell over completely under the weight of the heavy snow.

Thousands of Manitoba Hydro customers were without power Saturday evening and throughout the day Sunday with many having to wait until Monday to have their service restored.

Temperatures are expected to improve throughout the week, in time for another Colorado Low expected to hit on the weekend.

This one, hopefully, will just be a rain event.

A Mackenzie Middle School student recently raised some money for the Parkland Ukrainian Family Fund from his fellow students.

Blake Symchych, 13, visited Grades 7 and 8 classrooms explaining what was currently taking place in Ukraine. He was told by his principal that the school had already made a donation to the fund.

“But the students didn’t get to,” he said. “So after I went class to class, I went back to the principal and he said he was very proud of me for doing that.”

Over the course of four days, Symchych raised $634 from the Grades 7 and 8 students, some teachers and one neighbour. The money will go towards helping a family from Ukraine move to the Parkland. Symchych had an original goal of raising $200. It only took about a day-and-a-half to hit that mark.

“I was very surprised at how quickly people wanted to give money and how much they’d give,” he said. “One of my friends gave $70. I was so surprised, because I asked for $2 or more. That was kind of them.”

Symchych only hit the Grades 7 and 8 classrooms, because the Grade 6 students had a different lunchtime than the older students.

“We’d be having lunch when they’d be outside. So I couldn’t really do it. But I made sure to ask the Grade 6 teachers for money,” he said.

Symchych could not have done it without the support of his classmates.

“They did support me a lot and so did my friends and I appreciate them a lot,” he said.

Symchych encourages children in other schools to do what they can to raise money for the Parkland Ukrainian Family Fund.